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Doc admits
'error' after patient dies
A DOCTOR has admitted it was an “error”
to allow a critically ill patient to go home without warning
him his life was in danger, an inquest heard on Tuesday.
The family of Stephen Dennis Pipe, who died of a heart attack
caused by a cancerous mass behind a heart valve, was told he’d
be back at work within 10 days, St Pancras Coroner’s Court
was told.
Driving instructor Mr Pipe, 49, waited hours for an ambulance
to transfer him from the Heart Hospital, in Harley Street, to
the Royal Free only to find his bed taken by the time he arrived.
Unaware doctors suspected he was suffering from a life-threatening
condition, the exhausted patient chose to go home rather than
wait a minimum of four hours in casualty. He died the next day.
The inquest heard that Mr Pipe, of Ilford, who ran two driving
schools – Lady Drive and On The Road – with his brother
in Camden, went to the Royal Free last May suffering from complications
associated with a previous liver transplant.
His brother Tony told the court: “We spoke to a doctor
who told us there’s nothing to be concerned about.
“Our doctors said there was nothing life-threatening.”
David Patch, consultant physician at the Royal Free admitted
the doctors had serious concerns about Mr Pipe’s health.
He said: “We should have told him we were concerned and
we didn’t.”
Mr Pipe suffered a cardiac arrest at 6am early the next morning
and despite attempts to resuscitate him, he died 30 minutes
later.
Verdict: Natural causes. |
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